Christina Warrens of Mashable covered our iTunes Concert Ticket + report last week and added that "Delta Airlines, which is headquartered in my hometown, supports digital boarding passes at some of its bigger airports. I love this because it is one less thing to print out and one fewer line to stand in for a boarding pass." Well, Apple appears to agree with that thinking because they're working on a new travel check-in application that they're simply calling "iTravel." Apple is obviously working with the Airlines to ensure that the iPhone will be up to standard when new ticketless systems roll out in the coming years. Apple's iTravel focuses on such matters as airline check-in and baggage identification, advanced electronic ID, car rentals, hotel and airline reservations and so forth. Apple's iTravel is yet another Near Field Communications based application within a host of recent revelations. It would appear, at least on the surface – that Apple may be working on a new suite of NFC related applications for a future iPhone. Perhaps such a suite could be ready by the time they roll out their iPhone 4G next year.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 15 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Besides winning 5 design patents covering the iPod Classic and iPod nano, the notables within this group include one that relates to the iPod being used as a remote control and another that relates to color correction information in a camera. The latter is perhaps the most interesting granted patent published today - due to the fact that Apple has just filed a patent infringement law suit against Kodak. Yet on a second note, Apple's aggressiveness against Kodak could also be a sign that Apple is planning yet a further push into cameras in the future that cover both digital still and video cameras. Apple's granted patent image noted above is not that of an iPod camera but rather a traditional stand alone camera which is in line with a patent application they filed in July 2009. While today's granted patent could have simply been covering a basic "conceptual camera" for illustration purposes only, one could never know what Apple has on their roadmap until they announce it. Stay tuned.
In February, Eastman Kodak Company filed a patent infringement complaint with the US International Trade Commission against Apple Inc. over digital camera technology used in the iPhone. It was revealed today in court documents that Apple Inc filed a counter suit against Eastman Kodak on April 15, 2010. The intellectual property patent suit was filed in the California Northern District Court. Apple claims that Kodak has infringed on two of their granted patents and lists the products under violation. Apple is seeking a trial by jury.
Intel's CEO Paul Otellini kicked off his January 2010 keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with a bang when he stated that we were "on the cusp of a new era in computing: An era of personal computing, essentially where we have many devices for every person - For computing is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives. These changes are transforming the industry and they're transforming Intel." One of the key forces behind this change was Intel's acquisition of Wind River. Their footprint on Intel was felt throughout several of this spring's IDF keynotes and our report's first graphic, in fact, is titled Welcome to the Embedded World to make that point crystal clear. Yet the news that will be most interesting to Macites this day – is in how obsessed Intel is over Apple's iPhone. Intel wants to challenge Apple in the smartphone sector and in order to that they're aggressively creating a new developer platform to sideline Apple and the iPhone. You have to wonder if Intel once believed that by wooing Apple over to the Intel architecture that they'd eventually gain Apple's favor in creating future smartphones and netbooks based on Intel. The iPhone seems to grind on Intel and I don't know whether to laugh or be concerned. Time will tell.
A newly published Apple continuation patent today relates to a next generation Apple virtual store. The patent titled "Enhancing Online Shopping Atmosphere" illustrates that the virtual store will involve some 3D dynamic whereby "Apple Reps" will greet online visitors to assist them with their purchases and/or answer questions about specific products. Apple was granted a related patent titled "Method, system, and medium for representing visitor activity in an online store" in February of this year. Apple's continual push on this front, at minimum, shows us that they're keeping this interesting project alive.
There's no missing the point that Apple wants to enter the electronic concert and event ticket business via a new application and system simply called "Concert Ticket +." The system that is laid out in this extraordinarily detailed patent, points to a new iTunes based web service for tickets that will naturally enhance the iTunes music empire. Apple definitely envisions a way to revolutionize the entire current concert ticket process so as to eliminate paper while enhancing the concert or event experience. Today's patent reviews the basics of this new system as well as review the benefits of such a system which could include the concert goer receiving such things as a live recording of the concert they just attended or access to exclusive artist interviews or refreshments. Surprisingly, the patent goes far beyond concerts as well - so as to cover sporting events, amusement park admissions and rides (think Disney), a wedding invitation system and a lot more. In fact, one of the events that the report covers includes Apple's World Wide Developer Conference 2010.
On April 14, 2010, The Canadian Intellectual Property Office published Apple's latest trademark application for "iAd" under application 1475581. The application indicates that Apple originally filed their trademark just two days prior to formally announcing their upcoming web service associated with iPhone OS 4. Formally, Apple's iAd is a new mobile advertising platform which combines the emotion of television ads with the interactivity of web ads. You could still view Steve Jobs' introduction of this new mobile advertising platform beginning at the 44:10 mark of the "Apple iPhone OS 4 Event" QuickTime presentation. The Canadian filing covers "iAd" under Wares and Services which basically covers Apple in all forms of advertising as well as for being an ASP or Application Service Provider through to "Toys" which encompasses "electronic hand-held game units."
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 14 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today of which two are industrial designs covering the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch. Two other notables within this group includes one that relates to a smart garment or smart shoe that may suggest that Nike and Apple may actually be working on a more sophisticated runner in the future and the other patent relates to the iPod touch and its assembly.
On April 13, 2010, the US Patent and Trademark Office officially published two newly granted industrial design patents for Apple Inc. covering the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch. CEO Steve Jobs is listed as one of the inventors for these designs.
Apple's engineers may have struck gold again, if this patent ever goes from paper to marketplace, that is. Even Apple's engineers consider the idea of an iPod or iPhone Smart Device Cover, nothing shy of being a Paradigm Shift in the industry. Don't take my word for it, here's what they actually stated in the patent: "Advantageously, the cover or outer covering according to various embodiments can provide a paradigm shift for electronic device covers, which have conventionally been provided for protection of outer physical surfaces of portable electronic devices. Now, the cover or outer covering can operate as an electrical accessory for the portable electronic device." Today's report provides you with the first in-depth peek at this exciting new concept that will revolutionize the device cover segment of the industry. This report covers everything from the basic mechanics to the functionality right on through to applications that could apply to gaming, texting, video conferencing and even a solar panel version that could have your iPod running many times longer at the beach. And – If you happen to be a BlackBerry die hard, then you just might find the solution you've been hoping for: an iPhone with a physical keyboard. It appears that adding iPhone and/or BlackBerry-like functionality to an iPod could be another hot ticket for Apple sometime in the future.
Within four of Apple's social networking patents that have come to light in 2010, the most prominent trend of all has been that of location awareness technology. There have been a number of articles written on the dangers of such a feature, one being "PleaseRobMe and the Dangers of Location-Based Social Networks." During Apple's iPhone OS 4 event held on Thursday, Scott Forstall took to the stage to discuss a number of features coming to the iPhone – with multitasking being the most interesting of all. Within this segment, Forstall focused on a new feature-set relating to "Background Location." This report focuses on this brief yet very important feature-set that is directly related to consumer security. As location awareness technology and social networking apps explode on the market over the coming years, you're going to want to know that the iPhone has safeguards in place for you and your family's protection.
In yesterday's NFC focused report we covered a unique Point of Purchase application that Apple appears to be preparing in conjunction with a number of highlighted iPhone hardware upgrades. In today's report we're going to open the flood gates to examine how Apple's engineers see the iPhone eventually controlling every single electronics device in your home including the water sprinkler and home security system for starters. As you could clearly see from our opening graphic above, the iPhone will apparently work with Microsoft's Xbox 360, an HDTV and the Apple TV remote. But that doesn't even scratch the surface of what they envision NFC being used for. One wild 3D CAD application shown in this report will definitely open your eyes to some of the interesting twists that Apple is exploring in conjunction with NFC.
